Academy: Chess Puzzles

Chess has always been a hobby of mine, so the idea of challenging myself with a large amount of chess puzzles intrigued me. Academy: Chess Puzzles provides plenty of challenging puzzles, and not much else.

The game spreads 750 puzzles over 3 difficulty settings, the difference in which is interchangeably hard to notice and blatantly obvious. Although this challenge roller coaster can frustrate, it is easy to skip over levels and come back to them later. Those unaware of the basic mechanics of chess will run into problems, since the game in no way teaches you how to play chess, leaving beginners to the game out of luck. Academy: Chess Puzzles only advertises to one audience: chess enthusiasts. The game might have benefited from the inclusion of some kind of tutorial for beginners, or even a full chess mode for the more dedicated audience the game plays to.

Aside from basic puzzle solving, the game includes a quiz mode to test your speed. Complete any given puzzle within an allotted time and you receive points, and progress to the next puzzle. Make one wrong move, or fail to solve it within the time limit, and you lose one of your three lives. While these constraints can make for an enjoyably tense experience, the tolerance for wrong moves is unforgiving. If you make a wrong move you also lose the chance to try that puzzle again—the game instead moves you onto a new puzzle where you start from square one.

Academy: Chess Puzzles isn’t a bad puzzle game, but would benefit from some refinements. Only chess enthusiasts will get anything from playing, and even then the experience may be frustrating.